Mount Swept At Rutgers-Newark

NEWARK, N.J. – The Mount Saint Mary College Women’s Volleyball team suffered its sixth straight loss on Saturday following a 23-25, 18-25, 15-25 road defeat at Rutgers-Newark. The Knights were led by 13 kills from freshman Grace Riddle who finished with her team leading sixth double-double.

The Knights jumped out to a 20-14 lead in the opening set on a Renee Hydo winner, but the Scarlet Raiders responded with six straight points to even things at 20-20. After falling behind 23-21, the Knights got things squared up on a kill and service ace from Hydo, but Rutgers-Newark took advantage of a Meredith Moore winner and a Mount attack error to sneak in front 1-0.

The two teams played a back-and-forth second set that saw the Knights pull to within 19-18 lead on another kill from Hydo. From there, the Scarlet Raiders scored the final six points of the set to pull in front 2-0 in the match.

The Knights got off to a strong start in the third frame, scoring the first three points on two Rutgers-Newark miscues and a block from Morgan Burke. The two sides would stay within three points of each other until an 8-0 scoring run from the Scarlet Raiders saw them open a 19-9 lead. The Knights climbed back to within 20-13, but Rutgers-Newark scored five of the final seven points to close out the sweep.

Riddle reached double-figures in kills for the third straight match, putting away 13 winners while hitting .353. She added two service aces, a block and 11 digs for the Mount. Hydo rounded out the day with a season-high nine kills for the Knights and chipped in a pair of service aces.

Burke closed the afternoon with six winners with Danielle Guarasci and Danielle Kralik each recording four.

Sophomore Alyssa Barbara led the team with 15 digs on Saturday and handed out four assists, with senior Emily Mazzurco posting 23 helpers and five digs.

Rutgers-Newark was led by nine kills from Comfort Akinbo with Jessica Moy putting away eight kills while hitting .533. Karly Gregoire handed out 21 assists and Brione Lockett led all players with 20 digs in the match.

Mount Saint Mary finished the day with a 37-30 advantage in kills, but the Scarlet Raiders finished with an 8-5 edge in aces and a 3-1 advantage in total team blocks.

Saturday’s loss drops Mount Saint Mary to 7-14 overall on the season.